Unique Paddling Cultures Around the World

From pole-to-pole and both hemispheres, humans have developed ways to operate on water. Paddling is a global phenomenon with interesting cultural significance. Traditional paddling craft have been used for fishing, hunting, sporting, transport, and even warfare. Even today, paddle craft are a popular way to negotiate the waterways of rivers, lakes, and oceans. 

Let's take a look at the way paddle cultures have developed around the world.

South Pacific Paddling Culture

Location: 

Polynesia is an area in the southern Pacific that encompasses island chains from Hawaii in the north to New Zealand in the south. Micronesia includes the more northern island chains and Melanesia encompasses the southwest islands. There is a rich paddling culture for these island people and their ties to the sea. 

Type of boat: 

The Hawaii and Maori peoples both built canoes in a dugout fashion. These canoes would be paddled, but could also have outriggers and sails for longer voyages. Hawaiian boats were often larger than their Maori cousins, but both would be start with native wood, dugout, and carved. The Maori also created boats fashioned of bullrushes woven together. Some were as long as 60 feet.  

Uses: 

These canoes were used for fishing and hunting, but they were also important in times of war. The canoes of the Maori would be carved with intricate and specific figure heads. They also used these crafts for exploration and transportation between islands. 

Significance:

Boats held special religious significance and the entire process of crafting a boat was approached with reverence and ceremony. These crafts meant access to food and trade. They were vital to the community's survival.

Australian Paddling Culture

Location: 

Located firmly in the southern hemisphere, Australia has a unique culture and ecology. Most of the population lives close to the coastal waters of the Pacific and Indian oceans or along freshwater rivers.

Types of boats: 

The aboriginal people of Australia built dugout canoes similar to the native people of eastern America. These canoes were made of the red rubber tree from a single sheet of bark. It was shaped over a fire and then sewn or caulked with mud to make it watertight. Some of these vessels were temporary while others were long term. Other boats, especially seagoing vessels, of this culture were borrowed from the Polynesians.  

Uses: 

These dugout canoes were used almost exclusively on freshwater. They were used for fishing or transporting goods. 

Significance:

The paddle culture of the aboriginal people was extremely functional. Their boats were used for survival in the form of hunting, fishing, or trading. In fact, some of the earliest form were simply logs or bark lashed together and propelled by hand (or pole or spear).

North American Paddling Culture

Location:

Stretching from northern Canada down through northern California, the native people of the Americas had a rich paddling culture on the rivers and coasts. Similar paddling was done on the east coast as well. 

Types of boats: 

Dugout canoes were very common. These canoes were of a variety of sizes and uses. Typically birch or cedar was used. The tree would be cut down and then a cockpit could be burned into the trunk. The burnt wood would be scraped or dug out until the necessary size was achieved. Steam and hot water also helped the process of softening the wood for removal. 

Uses: 

Depending on their use, canoes could be shaped to a variety of sizes. Long, narrow canoes with sharp bows would be used for long sea voyages and more cargo. Flatter and squarer canoes were used for navigating rivers, fishing, and hunting. These canoes were even used for war, with intricately carved figure heads.

Significance: 

Canoes were very important to the indigenous people as they were necessary for survival. Fishing, hunting, transporting goods, and trading with others were all important tasks for the canoe. 

Siberian, Greenland, & Northern North American Paddling Culture

Location: 

The subarctic is a region of the northern hemisphere that is home to a paddling culture that claims the collective imagination of paddlers around the world. These cultures are home to the very popular kayak.

Types of boats: 

The indigenous people of Siberia, Greenland, and Alaska built skin boats that allowed them to survive and thrive in the icy waters of the arctic. Kayaks and umiaks were common. Umiaks were an open boat composed of a wooden frame with a walrus or seal skin covering. Kayaks were traditional closed cockpits and narrower, designed for use by a single paddler. Most crafts used a single bladed paddle but the kayak was unique in its use of a double-bladed paddle. 

Uses:

These lightweight skin boats allow them to be carried over ice for many miles. These boats were used for transportation, hunting, fishing, and trading. These boats were extremely versatile and efficient so they caught the imagination of explorers who saw their uses and brought them to other cultures. Today they are used for everything from rapids to recreation.

Significance:

Kayaks and Umiaks are extremely significant to these cultures as they provided a way to survive in the harsh, cruel climate. Most of their food came from the sea so it was necessary to have a craft that allowed them access to their food supply.

European Paddling Culture

Location: 

Two unique paddling cultures in Europe come from the United Kingdom in the north and Italy in the south. 

Types of boats:

The coracle is a very small boat found in the British Isles. It is a wooden frame stretched with animal skin and often big enough for only one paddler. Its unique round shape (the name coracle comes from the Welsh “corwgi” meaning round) defines this clever craft.

In Italy the famous gondola has a long and storied history on the canels of Venice. This distinctive boat has become so much a part of the culture of that city that it’s manufacture is codified and only about 400 gondoliers are licensed today. 

Uses:

The small coracle is used primarily for fishing. It is small enough to get to good fishing ground but small enough to be maneuverable. In a pitch a coracle might be used to ferry a passenger but they were often just big enough for a single paddler.

 

Gondolas are used almost exclusively for transportation. Sometimes they move goods but mostly they were used to transport Venetians around their city. Today gondolas are truly the realm of the tourist. Although water transport is still the most common way to get around Venice. 

Significance:

Coracles are a unique paddle craft with deep roots in Welsh culture. Although they look odd to the uninformed, they have developed because of their ability to get a single paddler down the river. Two working together can string a net between them and catch many fish in a short time.

Gondolas are of both practical and cultural significance in Venice. While they are needed to ferry passengers around, they have also become synonymous with the city and its romantic mystic.

Indian Paddling Culture

Location: 

In the Kerala backwaters of India is a unique paddling culture. This area is the marshy lagoon's brackish canals found parallel to the Arabian sea in the Kerala province.  

Types of boats: 

The kettuvallam is a traditional houseboat made of local materials like bamboo, coconut fiber, ropes, etc. It is eco-friendly, usually of just a single room, and originally propelled & steered with a long oar. Long bamboo poles of punts are also used to propel it in shallow water. 

Uses:

The kettuvallam is used primarily as a method of transportation (and also lodging). They were used to move both men and materials and even housed royalty in comfortable fashion. 

Significance:

These traditional craft are built from the local materials and designed for their specific waters. While mostly used for tourism today, they often look at the culture of the past.

East Asian Paddling Culture

Location:

Much of the paddling in East Asia is along the rivers and coastal regions of China. The Yangtze river is crowded with sampans and dragon boats. 

Types of boats:

Sampans were small boats usually used on calm waters (like rivers) and propelled with an oar. It was small and light enough to be picked up and carried home at the end of the day. Dragon boats are human-powered watercraft made of teak. They are often decorative and elaborately carved.  

Uses:

Sampans were mostly used for commerce. Trading, transporting, and fishing were common uses. Dragon boats, however, were much more ceremonial and used for racing dating back over 2000 years. In a dragon boat a crew of rowers powers the boat with the help of a drummer or caller.

Significance:

Dragon boats are a significant part of Chinese culture. They are part of religious observations, ritual, and community celebrations. In ancient times, they were also used in naval battles. 

African Paddling Culture

Location:

African paddling cultures have mostly developed in the rivers and marshes and not the ocean.  

Type of boat:

One unique boat is the mokoro. This mokoro is a traditional canoe used in the Okavango Delta region of Botswana. Traditionally these boats were carved out of the trunks of large trees (usually sausage or ebony trees). They are long and narrow with a shallow draft, perfect for the thin waters, reeds, and lily pads of the delta.

Uses:

Primarily mokoro were used for transportation on the waterways of the delta where that could be propelled with a pole or paddle by a single pilot. 

Significance:

These little boats were essential for transportation along these delta region were flooding and sediment could change the course of water and land. 

Paddling around the world offers such a unique glimpse into the lives and times of peoples. From the frigid north to the shallow river deltas, people have learned to live in tune with land and water!